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Anita Dunn, the former White House communications director who served as a strategist on the 2008 campaign — and with Valerie Jarrett, was one of its highest ranking women — said the new roles for Smoot and O’Malley Dillon are a “recognition of two of the best women in the campaign” who worked their way up the ladder in “a pretty traditional way.”

And while Dunn, who has privately pushed for including more women in the campaign and the White House, echoed Psaki in saying Smoot and O’Malley Dillon didn’t land their new jobs because of their gender, she added:

“The president does value having different points of view at the table. And it’s clearly a good thing to have a diversity of voices.”

Jarrett, a White House senior adviser, made the same point. “The president always looks for the most talented people, and Jen and Julianna are two of the very best,” she said. “They have proven track records and results. Of course, I am delighted to see Jen [and] Julianna, together with Debbie Wasserman Schultz, take on senior roles in the campaign.”

While their titles are the same, Smoot and O’Malley Dillon will have entirely different roles under Messina.

Smoot, 43, is the one with the golden Rolodex, the connection to Democratic fundraisers and the ability to “make it rain,” as one donor put it. O’Malley Dillon, a 34-year-old, fast-talking Massachusetts native who has spent much of her adult life on the road, is the resident expert on campaign field operations.

Frank White, an Obama donor, said Smoot is able to operate effectively because she is “very unassuming.”

“She can sneak up on you,” he said. “She’s not in your face, and she certainly doesn’t knock you out.”

These days, Smoot is reconnecting with campaign volunteers, state party leaders and interest groups across the country. Although she said in an interview that she won’t be as “laser focused” on raising money this cycle, she still sits in on fundraising calls as needed. “When I can help, I do,” she said.

O’Malley Dillon’s focus right now is on analyzing data from previous elections.

“We are spending a lot of time making sure we understand what happened state-by-state and community-by-community in 2008 and 2010 and working through our plans to build unique and strategic operations in key states across the country,” she said.

Both women have been focused on North Carolina, for example. Recently, as O’Malley Dillon combed through districts in the state, Smoot led a conference call with Democratic leaders and grass-roots supporters there.

Both say they have spent time creating a budget and dealing with personnel.

And those who know them say they are more alike than different. “They’re both hard-charging, type A women who know what they want and how to get it,” one friend said.

That could be a recipe for disaster, the friend said, but “they get along very well.”

Colleagues joke that Smoot and O’Malley Dillon — who didn’t know each other very well before this campaign — are not morning people and live on coffee. The biggest difference, as O’Malley Dillon put it, is that “I’m a Yankee from her perspective, and I think she is a southern genteel.”

It is so amusing that the Obama campaign and by extension the media ( talking to you Amie) act like it is something to be proud of that this man is going to raise and then spend a billion dollars on a self indulgent reelection campaign that is, according to Politico, already predetermined in his favor. A true man of the people like Obama should give a speech declaring himself the winner and then give the money to poor, fat kids in Chicago. Why does he need to campaign all over the country? Everyone KNOWS how well the country, nay WORLD, is doing under guidance. Haven't the seas receded and the lamb laid down with the lion?

Women will vote in huge numbers. They are more educated now than they were even a decade ago. They're also more finance-and- business-savvy, whether running their own companies or calling more of the shots in corporations, educational institutions and - slowly but surely - the military. In many cases, they have been the family breadwinner during tough economic times. Their interests are:

The economy Education Justice - meaning better lives for America's women and children The corruption and immorality of the Afghan War National security

Any politician who's not getting this message will have a hard time winning in 2012. Women are tired of "boys being boys" and waiting for them to become men. They're moving on with their lives.

Elevating Debbie Wasserman-Schultz shows that the democrats may be scraping the bottom of the barrel to include women in their party. That shrill, self-agrandizing person has nothing positive to offer the nation and anyone assisting Obama to a second term cares little about this country. The housing market is the worst this country has seen since the depression no matter the spin by the liberal press. Long term unemployment is a norm. Maybe Obama's corporate supporters should offer jobs to the unemployed instead of spending obscene amounts on his campaign. Women supporting Obama should take a second look at the state of the nation..

Debbie W S Is a clueless ditz. The Dems could have done so much better. DWS is the DNC version of Pam Bondi. Florida only made her AG, the party was smart enough not to let her be RNC Chair.

Anyone notice that we haven't heard anything about Valerie Jarrett in a long time? That lady is so corrupt and incompetent and it is amazing she has stayed out of the media spotlight for all this time. She is Obama's pet yet you never see her hear about her. Means she is up to something. The people in Chicago, and those would be Democrats, are still cheering that she is gone.

Women will vote in huge numbers. They are more educated now than they were even a decade ago. They're also more finance-and- business-savvy, whether running their own companies or calling more of the shots in corporations, educational institutions and - slowly but surely - the military. In many cases, they have been the family breadwinner during tough economic times. Their interests are:

The economy

Education

Justice - meaning better lives for America's women and children

The corruption and immorality of the Afghan War

National security

I suspect the women who are the most finance and business savvy don't want the feds to take care of them or their children.

Of all the mostly silly articles I see in Politico, this takes the cake. Keep this up and you'll be totally superfluous.

Next you'll be superimposing Abe Lincoln's image over Obama just as ABC news did the other night.

You should focus on Jim Messina, the real campaign manager. He's was Rahm Emanauel's hatchet man, after he destroyed any hope of a Public Option while working as chief of staff for Max Baucus. He purposely alienated every single progressive group that Obama had cultivated during the '08 campaign. Messina and Obama's plan is to raise $1Billion this cycle, focusing exclusively on the corporate dollar.

That's what you should be focusing on. Not some silly window dressing article like this.

LOL Julianna Smoot's last job was acting as Michelle's social secretary. You know she's the dork who booked Michelle's Spain trip with her gal pal. Now she will be one of the folks running the campaign LOL ha ha ha ha ha. Thanks for the laugh and the profile of the window dressing Obama wants you to look at while you ignore the real players like Messina who will be running the campaign.

I wonder why Politico puts this as the top line story when the story on the job market is mysteriously missing from the site.

We only added 38,000 private jobs last month, down more than 130,000 than was expected, and more layoffs are coming.

Not that Obama is supposed to create jobs, but at least lets call him out on his lies about the economy, and the effect of the stimulus and QE2. They are also ready for another round of QE and that will further drive up commodity prices, and devalue the dollar, which will hurt all Americans because the Fed is illegally monetizing the debt.

Wow, Politico is starting to campaign for the Obama administration a little early. THey should at least wait until January or so. Politico started as a good source of information but has now become the Mika of the internet...pathetic.

Obama’s campaign manager, top spokesman and chief strategist will once again be male, but two women, Julianna Smoot and Jen O’Malley Dillon, have been picked as deputy campaign managers, essentially sharing the number two job in what promises to be a billion-dollar campaign.

A billion dollars to get reelected! A standing president, the bully polpit, a puppet press corps and he still has to spend this kind of money? Tells you what their internal polling is telling them: Barry's in deep do do.

He can't run on his budget The economy is in the tank Gas is $4 headed for $5 Unemployment through the roof Housing in the tank No new jobs: 38,000 last week. WOW! Obamacare is killling us, costs going higher, not lower Three wars Fed debt through the roof Barry is proving to be the biggest fool to ever hold the job of Pres.

Isn't this just WONDERFUL? Don't ya just get a giddy feeling all over? Maybe a tingle up your leg?

After the Republicans infused a host of women into office in Congress and governorships, and state legislatures across the nation in 2010; and after two high-profile women in the GOP are poised on the edge of running for President, but will surely play a prominent role in the 2012 campaign, Obama moves to give his own campaign a feminine touch.

Remember when Gibbs and Axelrod were moving back to Chicago to begin Obama's 2012 campaign? Well, where are they? Hvae you heard from then in the last 6 months? Maybe that's because Obama fired them after two disastrous years as President and an uphill battle for reelection.

The Dems are scared. They know they are facing at least a "Jimmy II", and possibly an "LBJ-II". Obama may not be above 50% next spring. Especially if the economy continues to peter out! (which is happening)

So Obama and his team want to "sweeten things up" by bringing in the "spice girls". This is not likely to make a big difference. These women, as accomplished as they are, cannot save a dying campaign. And they are not necesssarily the fonts of wisdom that this article makes them appear.

True...this is simply a propaganda roll-out. A PR effort to try to capture the imagination of the media, and possibly help Obama in the reelection campaign by picking up a few mor female votes. But it is cheap theatrics. It won't likely last long. It is an "OBL bump" at best.

People don't vote for a candidate because of the gender of his second-tier political operatives. They don't even pay much attention to VP, so how much less would they care about the vice under-secretary for campaign operations and fund-raising?

This is laughable! That is not to demean the women, who are likely excellent. But it is merely laughing at the Obama team efforts to try to capitalize on the gender of their political operatives.